Switcharoo!
by HersheyChocolates101
Summary: What would happen if the Witch were to switch minds, and not bodies? How would Chelsea and Vaughn act?
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: While getting over some writers' block, I decided it would be nice to see some editing. Enjoy the revision and any added description! None of the story line has been changed. The major change you will notice is that now everything is in third person and doesn't change every two seconds.**

Vaughn sighed as loudly as possible to keep himself from screaming. He was worried that if he didn't calm down, bipolar-ness would overtake him. Mirabelle and Julia would never have let Vaughn stay if he became so aggressive.

Why was Vaughn, the stony faced young adult, so irritated in the first place?

Julia had told him this place was extremely cheerful and bright, two things Vaughn despised more than anything. The name made steam come out of his ears, _Sunshine Islands_. Why couldn't something be plain and gloomy for once? Did every single thing on the face of the earth have to be jolly and goody-goody?

Mirabelle had mentioned that he could stay at her place on Mondays and Tuesdays. The rest of the week Vaughn would go back to the stinky city- by ship, that is. Maybe a little country life would have given him some peace and quiet. There were only so many people residing there, anyway. A few businesses, such as Mirabelle's animal shop, a general store, a shipping business, a café, diner, and a carpenter. There was also a ranch. Some friend of Julia's named Chelsea he had heard had taken over the junkyard of a farm. Judging by the few but very long conversations Vaughn had on the phone with Julia, Chelsea was a happy-go-lucky girl. She sounded almost _too_ friendly and cheerful. Julia said that he should become her friend, since she liked animals. _Yeah, (snort) right. Not on your life, _Vaughn thought.

He was an animal dealer, which was why Julia mentioned that Chelsea liked animals. That Chelsea girl had worked at an animal farm before coming here to these weird islands. Now Julia definitely would want to play match-maker. Vaughn wasn't in for a good treat after all.

XXX…XXX

"Phew! All finished!" Chelsea said cheerfully in satisfaction as she watered the last plot of land. The brown haired, blue eyed rancher hated crops more than anything. Chelsea hated what she had decided to grow this fall, and just the thought of it made her want to puke.

Chelsea could not stand carrots one single bit. That was a reason why she rarely wore the color orange, (minus the orange overcoat) or ever even got a pet rabbit. Eating carrots was impossible for her to do, no matter what form it had come in. Thank goodness the carrot crop in other farms had usually failed, so when she lived in the city, she never really had to eat them. It was funny to Chelsea how people like a lot of things very much, but they despised one object that existed on the face of the earth. She'd probably never understand those things in life.

"Chelsea! I need you to meet someone!" It was Julia, as usual.

"Who?" Chelsea asked out of curiosity. The girl did like meeting new friends that was for sure. She thrived on company from other people.

"He's at the shop. Come on," said Julia, and she began to drag poor Chelsea to the animal shop. The rancher dug her feet deeply into the soft farm ground in resistance.

"Wait, wait. Let me at least tame my hair a bit," she said, resisting Julia's strong tug.

"Ooooh, so you're already interested, huh?" she asked, with a playful smirk on her face.

Chelsea blushed madly. "No, but I look like I haven't taken a shower in a hundred years. Just give me five minutes. That's all I need. Five little minutes."

"Fine, fine. Not that Vaughn really talks anyway." Julia muttered.

"What's his name?" Chelsea asked.

"Vaughn," Julia answered. "Now hurry up and get ready. He agreed to wait, you know."

Chelsea ran into the house to straighten up a little. She wondered what Vaughn looked liked, combing her hair wildly. Finally she put her signature red bandanna on, not wanting it to get muddy in the field. _Is he nice? Does he hate carrots? Does he like animals? Is he good looking?_ Chelsea thought, hoping certain answers for certain questions.

She walked back outside after messing with her fussy hair and changing into cleaner clothes. Julia looked relieved that Chelsea wasn't dressed up _too _well.

"Let's go!" she said, and dragged her to the shop.

XXX…XXX

Vaughn tried waiting for Julia to come. That girl was bound to take a while. In the meantime, Vaughn decided, he would pop out a good book and read peacefully. Just as he was getting settled though, Julia walked in smiling widely with another girl about her age.

She had sapphire eyes that had nothing but cheerfulness in them. Ugh. She also had long, straight, chestnut hair that was tamed with a red bandanna on her head. Her skin was fair, and looked smooth from my position. The girl was at medium height and kind of skinny. Vaughn wondered if she was strong from all the ranch work.

"Vaughn, this is Chelsea, our local rancher. Chelsea, this is my cousin Vaughn. He's an animal dealer and helps out here on Mondays and Tuesdays. The rest of the week he works in the city."

"It's nice to meet you," said Chelsea in a very friendly tone. She smiled at Vaughn politely.

The grumpy cowboy only grunted in response as she shook his hand vigorously.

"Can I do a mini interview?" Chelsea asked timidly, stuttering and sounding like Vaughn would kill her if she said another word. He guessed the previous response scared her.

"Only a few questions," Vaughn grumbled. He hated talking more than anything.

"Okay thanks. First, do you hate carrots?"

That got his attention, and pretty well at that. He hated carrots almost as much as he hated talking, and twice as much as Julia hated fish. Did this girl know him from anywhere?

"Do you know me?" Vaughn asked, suspicion rising steadily in his deep voice. He gave her a direct stare and tapped a pointy caramel colored boot on the oak wood floor, which creaked noisily.

"No, I just hate carrots," she replied sheepishly.

"Looks like you two got something in common!" Julia squealed like a fangirl. Vaughn growled at her, making the matchmaker girl shut up almost instantly. Luckily his hat covered the light pink color on his face.

"Back to the topic," said Chelsea. "I despise carrots the most of all things. Carrots should DIE."

_Wow, she felt the same way about the horrid vegetable, huh?_ Vaughn thought curiously.

"I can't stand them either," he said in disgust, wiping a small bead of sweat off of his forehead.

"Good. Only one more question. Do you like animals?" Chelsea asked, being very serious.

"I'm an animal dealer. Of course I like animals," Vaughn muttered. This was getting annoying, how Chelsea already seemed to know him like that back of her hand.

"Then I've decided I like you Vaughn," Chelsea declared, sureness in her voice.

Vaughn's face might have as well just lit up on fire.

"I-I m-mean, a-as a f-friend!" Chelsea said quickly, blushing madly. Vaughn just had to admit, it was sort of cute how her pretty eyes were wide open and how she had a hand held up to cover her mouth. Fortunately he could just simply pull down his hat to cover the red face…

Wait a minute, where was his hat? Vaughn heard a chuckle, and then groaned in frustration.

"Time we see a bit of emotion in you Vaughn. Look at your face!" Julia said, trying hard but failing not to laugh. Chelsea just stared in awe. With a chuckle, the hat stealer laid the hat back on Vaughn's head.

"Sooo… what now?" asked the awkward-statement-stater, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had filled the room.

"I'd like to warn you that my cousin Vaughn is like a cookie," Julia cooed.

"You dare use that simile again or I'll-" Vaughn fumed.

"Vaughn, shut up or you show off your hair again," Julia threatened, and that shut him up.

"As I was saying, Vaughn is like a cookie. Tough on the outside, but warm, soft, and sensitive on the inside." said Julia, enjoying the cowboy's embarrassment.

"So if you want to go for him, all I can say is good luck!" said Julia. She really was starting to be a pain in the neck and he had only been here for so long.

"Well, I should go. Thanks for answering my questions, Vaughn. Bye and good luck with Julia!" Chelsea called as she headed out the door.

"It looks like you have something for her," chirped the oh, so annoying Julia.

"Shut up or you'll see the worst of me."

"Fine, fine, enjoy wooing her!" Julia danced out the door.

"Grrr…"

Later on, Vaughn went to peek at Chelsea's farm. He crossed the bridge, hoping she wouldn't see him. But when Vaughn got there, she wasn't in sight. The slightly disappointed man shrugged and turned to leave when something caught his attention.

A sweet voice was coming from somewhere by the barn. He could hear a melodic tune, which forced him to head towards that barn.

"_Hush little baby don't you cry."_

Vaughn peeked through a cracked window. There, crossed legged on the floor, was Chelsea, singing to her animals. They seemed to have gathered around her to hear the voice sweeter than honey. A newborn lamb was in her lap, sleeping blissfully. A sheep that must've been its mother, nuzzled into Chelsea's shoulder. A cow didn't seem to mind her as she leaned back on it. Chelsea's eyes were closed peacefully. She seemed to have stopped singing as she fell asleep. Vaughn literally almost started to drool at the sight. Too bad he didn't notice that the door was slightly open. He backed up into it, making it open all the way in and landed on the floor with a loud THUD!

And Chelsea's eyes were open in an instant.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Gah! I'm the stupidest person you'll ever hear of in your life. I forgot to write the title name when trying to upload Chapter 1, and I was dumbfounded for days. This would've been up earlier, but it wasn't, due to my stupidity. I'll update Harvest Rivalry as soon as possible. Remember that reviews let me know if you guys actually like the story. Apologies to floridapanther28 for bothering you because of how big of an idiot I was. Thanks for your help.**

**EDIT: Enjoy the fixed chapter!**

Chelsea was up in a flash, and so were her animals. Vaughn mentally scolded himself for disturbing her _and _the animals, but he stopped to avoid from yelling at himself aloud. Where was an awkwardness breaker when he needed it?

"Errr, Vaughn, did you, like, need something?" asked Chelsea, attempting to break up the dense silence.

"I just wanted to, uh, see if you had animals?" Vaughn answered (or rather asked), apparently lying. What was his reason for coming in the first place, anyway?

"Well, you see, I do. And, are you alright? Like, you're not hurt, right?"

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine," Vaughn answered back, feeling the fire in his cheeks. He nudged the brim of his hat down and shuffled his feet uncomfortably, not really sure of what to say next. _This is one of the many times when I hate myself._

A cow mooed in irritation of being interrupted of her sleep. She nudged Chelsea, trying to get some attention.

"I'll uhh, go, so, bye," Vaughn muttered under his breath. He took a few steps back

"Okay. Bye."

He staggered out of that dreaded place, wondering how awkward things were going to be between the two for a while.

XXX…XXX

_Why did Vaughn go to Chelsea's farm?_ _That was something he never would do, much less talk to someone. I am __so __going to get it out of him. _After devouring a delicious lunch at the Diner, Julia strolled to Ranch Island to privately talk to Chelsea. She wanted to see if she liked Vaughn in the least.

Julia saw Vaughn there, peeking in the barn window. He had his eyes closed in a pleasant way, as if he were listening to some calming music. She would've jumped up and scared Vaughn, but saw him stumble into the barn.

"Let him have a moment with Chelsea, the more time alone they spend together, the better," Julia murmured to herself. But she definitely was going to make them, fall in love, no matter what.

"Hey Vaughn. Today's Chelsea's birthday. You're good at acting, right?" Julia asked Vaughn.

"Yeah, whatever," Vaughn grumbled. He, unfortunately, knew where the conversation was going, and didn't appreciate it very much.

"You supposedly don't know when her birthday is, right?" Julia interrogated suspiciously. She grinned, yet twirled a strand of blonde hair nervously.

"Just get to the point," Vaughn muttered, tapping a tan boot on the wooden floor and grumbling noisily.

"I need you to go to her place and ask what her favorite type of food is. Just in a casual way."

"Oh. Julia and cooking? Not such a good combination if you ask me," Vaughn said, chuckling and hiding his face with his cowboy hat.

Vaughn got an unexpected whack on the bottom with a rolling pin. "Ouch!"

"Shut up or I'll get my rope."

"You learned to lasso?"

"I didn't but I mastered the art of tying people to things.

"I can still dash away from you."

"Ooooh, little Vaughnie is scared. And what will his crush, the well known farmer girl think of him then?"

"I do not have a crush on her!"

"Are you sure? Why did you go to her farm yesterday? Already stalking, huh?"

"I was only seeing if she knew how to take care of animals!"

"She's been here for a long time. I think you need to give her lessons. Quit lying! I'm not buying it!"

"Do you want me to ask about her favorite food or not?" Vaughn dropped the subject quickly, though he didn't want to go anywhere.

"Get your butt over there, already!" He got whacked on the butt with the rolling pin again. Vaughn groaned and trudged to Ranch Island. Chelsea was working hard, and was watering the crop that gave him nightmares. And her entire field was covered in them! Vaughn forgot everything else and let out a bone chilling shriek. He truthfully could have been mistaken for a girl!

"Oh my gosh, Vaughn, what on earth is wrong?" Chelsea called as she ran over to him. Vaughn just pointed timidly towards her field. The vegetable was too shameless for Vaughn to even be called by its only name.

"Carrots," he whispered.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't have enough money after most of my summer crop failed, so I had to pick the cheapest thing Chen had. And, unfortunately for both of us, the cheapest seeds I could plant were, uh, carrots."

"Can we get away from here?" Vaughn asked. His gloved hands trembled anxiously, and sweat began to collect on his forehead, despite the calming chilliness of the autumn air.

"Sure, we can go in my house. I'll give you something to munch on while we're there."

"Uhhh, okay."

Chelsea and Vaughn walked to the ranch house and stood in the doorway for a minute. It was slightly small. There was a bed in one corner. From Vaughn's perspective, it looked like there was no mattress under the covers. Near the door stood two tables. One had a telephone and the other held some books. The other side of the house held a tiny kitchen and a fridge. Two treasure-chest looking boxes remained next to the door. A coffee table was plopped in the middle of the room.

"I know, it's kinda bad looking, right?" Chelsea asked. He'd been grimacing, especially at the bed. Didn't her back ache from that- that metal looking mattress? The place almost seemed like nobody could really survive in it.

"There isn't heating in here?" Vaughn questioned Chelsea. A turn to the next page on the calendar and there was old, gloomy and _cold_ winter.

"No, but my blanket is enough," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't you get sick in the winter?" Great. Now she would think he really _cared._

"I do. Really sick. But I can deal with it."

"You idiot! How can you live like that? You can't just deal with it! If you get sick so many times, your health will deteriorate!" Vaughn yelled, unaware of his words.

"Calm down. I don't get that sick. What did you need in the first place?" Chelsea went into the kitchen and poured a glass of milk and handed it to Vaughn. Their hands brushed each other, making both faces go fire engine red at the mild contact.

"Yeah, Julia wanted to know what your favorite food is. She wanted to conduct a survey," Vaughn answered, sipping the cold milk and enjoying the fresh taste.

"I like apple pie. But I really like anything with fresh fruits or veggies. IF it's a dessert, it's apple pie."

He shuddered at her emphasis on the word "if".

"Well then, I should go." Chelsea took the milk glass which Vaughn had emptied and put it in the sink. Then she opened the door for him.

"Thanks so much for staying. I do very lonely at times, even if I have animals. I don't have a family that I know of. Only my parents. Well, they're not my parents." She quickly put her hand over her mouth as if she had given away a really big secret.

"Why aren't they your parents?" Vaughn asked. _Why do I even care?_

"Uhh, I'll tell you later, Vaughn."

"O-kay. Bye I guess." He walked out the door and crossed the bridge connecting Ranch Island and Verdure Island and then stopped at the end.

_Why weren't they her parents?_

**A/N: Was that a lame ending? Sorry if it was. I'm bad at endings more than anything. I would've made Chelsea's birthday the next day, but then Vaughn wouldn't be there to give a gift. (Hint, hint) Crud, I gave away a secret like Chelsea. I can't update tomorrow since I won't be home, but I'll start the new chappie soon. The real plot of this story might take some time to actually happen. Vaughn and Chelsea kind of need to be friends before the action begins. Oh pretty please review. I'll update Harvest Rivalry; I haven't been working on it for a while. Sorry for my rambling. Don't forget to review, or I won't update!**


	3. Chapter 3

Vaughn walked back to Mirabelle's and told Julia what Chelsea liked, the thought about Chelsea's parents (or maybe not so much parents) lingering in his mind like a virus. He smacked the side of his face, not getting much result.

"Make an apple pie," he muttered, still swaying his head violently, for he couldn't get it _out _already!

"Thanks, Vaughn!" Julia squealed like an elementary school brat and squeezed Vaughn into an almost murderous hug.

"Julia…Can't breathe…" he gasped, trying to catch some air. Julia was like a twig, but she sure could kill someone by simply holding their hand. Vaughn shuddered at the thought and eased himself out of the death grip.

"Oh, sorry. Can you help me make the pie?" Julia asked, giving him her puppy dog eye look. Vaughn wasn't going to let that stop him. He had something else to do that was ten times more important.

"I'm busy right now," he said. With that, he walked outside. _What would Chelsea want for her birthday besides an apple pie? I don't want her to get the wrong idea, but Julia will kill me if she finds out I didn't give a present. Girls. They sure can drive you up a tree._ It wasn't till Vaughn felt his forehead hit bark-like material that he snapped out of his thoughts and tried to figure out why he was suddenly standing in front of a tree, and why his head hurt terribly.

"That must've hurt," said a voice.

_Speak of the devil._

"Where'd you come from?"

"My farm, where else? The moon?"

Vaughn sighed in exasperation. "What do you want?"

"This." His head all of the sudden felt lighter and when he felt for his hat it was gone, along with Chelsea.

"YOU TWERP, GET BACK HERE!" Vaughn began to run after the highly energetic farmer.

"In your dreams, cowboy!" She could run fast. Too bad he didn't notice a puddle of mud on the ground. Actually, Chelsea didn't either because she turned around and started running backwards. In she fell to the puddle with a _splash!_ And Vaughn fell right on top of her. On. All. Fours. Awkwardness entered the scene again when the door to Mirabelle's shop opened and Julia opened the door. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Vaughn, can you keep things PG here?" she requested. A freshly baked steaming apple pie was in her hands, which was probably made with the help of Mirabelle if it actually came out edible…

"We aren't doing _that!_" Vaughn shouted and quickly jumped off of Chelsea, blushing madly.

Chelsea just remained wide eyed while her face turned crimson. She finally remembered that she was covered in mud and stood up. Vaughn was a mess, too.

"Sorry…Vaughn….Here's….your….hat…" she said timidly. He felt guiltier than ever when her eyes began to water. His hat was ruined and so was her bandanna. She finally couldn't take the guilt anymore and ran away. Sobbing.

"Nice going, Mr. Kitty Yummy Yums," snapped Julia coldly.

"That's the first time you've spoken without squealing like an idiot," Vaughn grumbled. He ineffectively attempted to brush the disgusting mud off of his hat.

"And that wasn't the first time you've made a girl cry," Julia retorted.

"It's all her stupid fault!" Vaughn shouted.

"Maybe she'll accept that if you go and apologize."

"How?"

"Give her this pie and say you made it."

"But I didn't make it! And I don't think you did, either."

"I made it with Mom's help. Honestly, Vaughn, you need to stop jumping to conclusions and listen."

"So do you."

"I think it's time you go and apologize. And deliver this pie before it starts pouring."

"Fine," Vaughn moaned. Reluctantly, he took the pie from Julia and headed towards Ranch Island.

"Aren't you going to take an umbrella?" Julia called.

"I'm covered in mud. If it starts raining, it'll wash off nicely," he called back and walked away. Chelsea was probably not going to answer the door. Or, she would open it, see him, and slam it in his face. Vaughn hoped that this trip wouldn't take too long. He had better things to do, without walking into trees.

He finally made it to the door and raised his hand to knock when it opened. Vaughn's hand was moving so fast that he ended up knocking on her forehead. _Another awkward moment. Wonderful._

"Hey," Chelsea muttered, not caring about what had just happened. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She seemed shaky, and her usually happy face was sullen. Guilt washed over Vaughn like a bucket of steaming water. _Why am I feeling guilty? Why is my heart thumping ridiculously hard? Am I falling for her? Wait, no, I am not falling for anyone. No one. I said NO ONE!_

"Uhhh, I came to say sorry for earlier," he murmured, waiting for Chelsea's reaction.

"Oh! Oh! It's my fault that all happened. Please don't feel guilty or sorry! It was my fault! And it's going to rain! Come inside!" _Talk about a sudden change of mood._

"J- I mean, uh, I baked you this," he stuttered. "Happy Birthday." Seeing Chelsea's face light up when she realized it was an apple pie made Vaughn's heart flutter, reminding him of butterflies. She smiled so widely that he thought her mouth would fall off, and put the pie on the coffee table and jumped into his arms. Vaughn could feel tears soaking into his favorite shirt.

"Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! I love it!" She said those words over and over again. He didn't bother hugging back.

"Get off of me!" Vaughn shouted. _I think Julia's hugging rubbed off onto Chelsea. That's not good…_

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"I'm out," Vaughn said, and stormed out of the ranch house. _Such a stupid girl._ She called something but he didn't care, at least not at the current moment.

As Vaughn headed towards Mirabelle's, he not-so-dreamingly brooded about how Julia would tackle him with her questions as soon as she took sight of him. When he walked in, she was surprisingly quiet.

"I gave the pie," Vaughn mumbled.

"You're such a jerk."

"That's not the first time I've gotten that."

"How can you be so bitter to her, Vaughn?" Julia sniffed. He could've sworn her eyes were teary. Crybaby.

"A better question might be where are you getting this from?"

"You didn't show anything when she hugged you!"

"Why do you even- Wait? How do even know this?"

"Video tape."

"Julia, I swear that one day…"

"Don't be so mean! First you make her feel like something is her fault, then you don't even apologize, and then you push her from a hug! How anti-social can you get?"

That really made his day with a hint of sarcasm.

"WHEN WILL YOU GET IT THROUGH YOUR CLOGGED UP HEAD THAT I'M NOT ANTI-SOCIAL?" Vaughn's voice echoed through the entire house, rattling the windows and vases on the shop counter. Frustrated, he slammed both palms on the table and seethed, regretting everything, every single little moment from day one of his life. He was sick of being pushed around like a baby.

"You will regret all of your actions, Vaughn. All of them. Just remember that," Julia snapped and she ran out, slamming the door behind her.

**A/N: I know that isn't the best chapter ever, but things will get better soon. I know you guys want the real action coming. Beware! It's on its way! Please review and I apologize for my shift key abuse. Thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Wait, Vaughn! Your-" _There is totally no point in running after Vaughn. He's too fast, too angry, and too cold to actually even think about listening to me. Why do I even try anything with him? _Chelsea thought, glumly, and pulled off her muddy orange overcoat. _ If I had never touched his hat earlier this never would've even happened. Speaking of his hat-_

Chelsea glanced at her bed where the hat lay. She had cleaned it successfully and there wasn't a trace of mud or bleach left on it. _Vaughn must hate me for being a hypocrite. First I say I hate it when people snatch your favorite things, and here I am, holding his cherished possession. And he never even gave it readily to me in the first place. Ugh. _Tears sprang up to her eyes and a sniffle came from her nose, which had dried mud on it. _Why do I mess up things for others? They're nice to me, but I am annoying to them._

Finally, Chelsea came up with a decision. She, by all means, would not speak ever again. She'd talk only when absolutely necessary. It seemed like an idiot proof plan. She went through the idea in her head for a few minutes circumspectly when there was a rap on the door. It seemed like something Chelsea had heard before. Her chest tightened when a certain cowboy's image came to mind. What would she say if the person at the door was Vaughn? Why did Vaughn want to speak to her anyway?

Chelsea mentally and physically prepared herself to be slapped and stood up when the rapping got more urgent.

"Chelsea! Open the stinking door! I'm getting really wet! It's pouring out here, you know!" _Huh? That's not Vaughn._ She hurriedly opened the door, to reveal a soaking wet, and familiar boy.

Mark. Her AWESOME brother! He was here, right there! The event was so miraculous to Chelsea that she smacked herself several times to make sure that the entire situation wasn't a dream or something.

"Mark! You came!" Chelsea threw my arms around him in an extremely tight embrace.

Mark had exceptionally blonde hair, that it was almost white. His eyes were a bright emerald green that Chelsea found absolutely breath taking, and a feature to be quite jealous of. He had the friendliest and heart warming smile anyone would ever see, as she felt.

"Hey, sis. I missed you to bits. And, can I come in? It's getting chilly."

"Oh…OH! Yeah, come in! I'll bring your bags!" Chelsea dragged in Mark's suitcase and picked up a heavy box that was bulging with holes on it. A similar box sat next to it. Mark dragged in some more suitcases, and Chelsea hoped he hadn't become friends with Julius from Harmonica Town.

"What are these?" she asked. Those boxes were too heavy that she had to drag them in. _What kind of stuff does a person like my brother need?_

Mark grinned and didn't say anything. He obviously was forgetting something if he had two bulging boxes, and two extra suitcases. Chelsea also just remembered that he'd forgotten her birthday, too! Something was wrong, no doubt.

Suddenly, the two boxes bursted open. One toppled over and she heard an "Ouch!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHELSEA!"

Tears of joy filled her eyes. Mark had brought along her other brother _and_ her best friend!

Kasey was Chelsea's other, older, and much taller brother. He had chocolate brown hair that separated into spikes at the ends. Two cute cowlicks had remained on his head, and Kasey couldn't take it at first. It seemed as if he had given up trying to get rid of it.

Kasey was strong for a lazy bump. He didn't like doing hard, manual labor. It was interesting how someone so laid back can develop such large and attractive (to other girls) muscle. It was amusing to the rest of the siblings, but so much for him. Chelsea inwardly smiled at the memory, as well as the lesson learned about not teasing Kasey about his hair.

Molly was Chelsea's very best friend. She had short, auburn hair that curled inwards at her shoulders in a cute way. Molly was shy, but incredible once one became more acquainted with her. Her strangely colored red eyes had always stood out in the crowd, and she certainly didn't appreciate that very much, even if that attention meant praise of beauty.

"Molly! Kasey! I missed you guys too much!" Chelsea pulled her long lost friend and brother into a hug, temporarily forgetting the situation that had been taking place barely half an hour beforehand. Then she squeezed Mark in thanks, burying her face in his overall pocket. Tears soaked him. He was wet from the rain anyhow.

"Thanks Mark. You have no idea how much this means to me," Chelsea whispered. Mark grinned and ruffled her hair, or, rather messed up her bandanna. She didn't care, though. She had her loved ones, and that was all that really mattered.

"So, will you feed us? I'm hungry!" Kasey moaned. Chelsea giggled at his childish behavior. _Kasey will never change. He loves food more than anything._

"Yes, I will. You two boys go and unpack. There's a cupboard over there." She gesticulated to the empty cabinet that she never had really bothered to use. "Molly and I have plenty of chit-chatting to catch up on."

Kasey groaned at the fact that he had to work. Molly burst out into fits of laughter at his pout as everyone sat down at the dining table.

"So, how's life in Harmonica Town been?" Chelsea asked after an awkward moment of silence. The members of the family were pretty much shocked to see each other that they barely even knew what to say. Chelsea realized then with a pang of guilt that she hadn't kept her promise to write while she was away. _Molly must've been devastated_.

"It's going well. Mark missed you a whole lot while you were gone," Molly replied.

"That much that he came all the way here just to visit me?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, we were all hoping we could stay and live on the farm," Molly shyly explained, playing with the hem of her shirt. "If it's alright with you, though."

"Heck, I'm not alright." Molly's eyes widened for a second. "I would love it!" Chelsea exclaimed. Molly relaxed her shoulders that had suddenly been tense for a moment then relaxed and giggled slightly.

"Really? That means we can help you with the farm!" she cheered.

"Yep." Chelsea smiled, mulling over all of the recent events that had occurred in a flash. _My brother came here and cheered me up when I was upset on my birthday. He lived far away, too. He even brought my best friend and my other brother. And now, I'd be with all three of them forever. It's like a dream come true. Only way better._

If only she could tell someone trustworthy enough about her past.

"Chelsea! I want food!" _I got work to do first, though._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll do a legit flashback of Chelsea's past. It just didn't work out the first two tries. And I still have to answer Vaughn's question from a while back. So here is my third and hopefully final attempt. Enjoy! **

**3****rd**** Person~ I think I might succeed this way…**

"Sooo…What 'cha making'?" Kasey peered over Molly's shoulder as she cooked in Chelsea's petite kitchen. She was more than remarkably indebted for being able to live with her best friend from childhood. Now it was her turn to do an act of thoughtfulness. Kasey was making that goal hard to achieve, though.

It was early in the morning. Like, _really_ early in the morning. It was only five thirty, a time she'd decided on after Chelsea told her how the average farmer woke up at six in the morning. Half an hour would be enough with cooking as skilled as Molly. But that meant only truth when Kasey wasn't being a little brat.

"Shhhh, Kasey. I don't want Chelsea waking up. She was nice enough to let all of us live here. We ought to be nice and do something in return, you know." Molly explained, all in her quiet whisper. She blushed a little as Kasey clutched on to her shoulder like a parakeet.

"Can IIIIII heeeelllllpppp?" Kasey whispered shouted in the kinda cute way of his. Molly couldn't help but grin and give in to his childish begging. She looked at him, staring at his chocolate brown eyes, clearly filled with nothing but mischief.

"Yes. Go and see if Molly has milk. We're going to cook pancakes." Molly said, and turned back to the toast she was buttering with intense care.

Kasey opened the fridge and stuck his head in. He pulled out a fairly medium size bottle of milk. And Kasey is unfortunately, quite the klutz. **(A/N: But we love him anyways. XD) **He walked over to Molly, and just as he was handing her the bottle, tripped on _something_ or the other, and fell. Knocking Molly over. And falling on top of her in one of those clichéd but hilarious awkward positions. The two had been lucky that Chelsea and Mark were REALLY heavy sleepers. Molly sighed in relief when no footsteps sounded and all was silent. She then realized how Kasey was on top of her and felt blood rushing up to her cheeks. The klutz finally realized his posture and immediately and awkwardly jumped off of her, blushing madly. He finally managed to break the uncanny silence.

"O-Oh! Molly! I'm so sorry! I'll fix everything! Please don't yell! Please! Don't let Chelsea find out what I did! Please! I'll make pumpkin pie!"

A hand was suddenly clamped over his mouth and he could hear giggles.

"Kasey, shut up or Chelsea will wake up. Screw the pancakes. Instead, why don't you check in that cabinet for flour? We'll make biscuits." she whispered in his ear, making him blush a little.

Molly couldn't help but admit that she had a tiny crush on her best friend's brother. She _was _his age after all.

"Okay." Kasey agreed, still blushing from the incident. He opened the cabinet and pulled out the bag of flour. Then he glanced over at Molly, who was busy cracking eggs. He had a little idea.

Sooner than you could blink, Molly was dusted in flour. Kasey bent down, clutching his stomach and trying not to burst out laughing at her petrified expression suddenly turning to a face full of revenge and naughtiness. Now Kasey was a white, powdery mess, too.

"See? There's more to me than it looks like." she said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Basically her face was filled with evilness that Kasey found scary as well as pretty darn cute. He smirked and threw some more flour at her, earning a good slap in the face with even more powder. But that didn't stop him from covering his hands with flour, and then ruffling his hands through Molly's hair, making her look like an old woman pouting. He couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Molly playfully glared at him and began to tickle his sides, knocking him to the floor to leave him without any form of defense.

"! Mollllyyyy! Haaavvveee m-mercyyyy!" Kasey cried, unable to stop Molly from tickling him. She did know from their childhood that he was ticklish. VERY TICKLISH.

But Kasey was a tricky one, and after a minute of letting Molly have her fun, he quickly had his hands on each side of her head and his knees on each side of her waist. They were in the same position they'd been in ten minutes ago, only it wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been before. And it was enjoyable for the two flour covered were-supposed-to-be-cooking-breakfast-for-Chelsea friends.

"K-Kaseeeeeeyyy! I'll kiiiiiiillll y-yoooouuuuu!" Molly spat out between giggles.

Finally Molly remembered what she was supposed to be doing and jabbed Kasey to get him off so she could get back to work.

"C'mon, move it. There's a huge mess, and Chelsea will wake up soon. Help me clean up."

Kasey nodded and easily found the dustpan. He then swiftly began to clean up the mess faster than any expert maid could. And soon enough, the kitchen was back to normal. Only that there were still eggs that needed to be fried. He immediately began to dump them in a blue frying pan to cook.

"Kasey! Let me do it!" Molly argued in a whisper shout. She tried yanking him away, but the strong, brown haired young man didn't need to put the least bit energy into staying completely still, in his pigheaded way of his.

Molly sighed. There was just no possible way for her to move that guy. He just seemed to have been like that since he had escaped with Mark and Chelsea away from home. She finally decided to go for a walk and explore, since the sun was beginning to rise. Molly pulled on her workboots and tied the brown laces. The bottoms of the boots were still caked in dry mud from work in the fields the day before.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with a silver haired old man. He had icy purple colored eyes that gave Molly an intent stare and even rose hairs up on the back of her neck. His attire resembled that of a cowboy's perfectly. All he needed was a hat.

"U-uh, hello. H-how m-may I h-help y-you s-s-sir?" she stuttered gawkily. He was certainly handsome, but clearly not her type. Or her age, for that matter.

"I'm not old. Where's Chelsea?" he muttered gruffly. Molly decided to not mess with this guy; he wasn't old, but he was definitely the one who shouldn't have their buttons pushed.

"Who's there, Molly?" Kasey called from the kitchen. He backed away a few meters from the counter, and upon meeting the man's gaze, retreated back to the kitchen, clearly intimidated.

"She's asleep. Is there something you need from her?" Molly asked shifting her weight to her right foot.

"My hat." Oh. He did have a hat.

"Um, I'll check Chelsea's room for it. What does it look like?"

"It's black with a brown band. Can't miss it."

"Okay, wait here." Molly quickly scuttled to the bedroom and spotted a black cowboy hat resting on the dresser. She snatched it and scurried back to the door, for fear that the strange visitor was impatient. She handed it to him.

"Come outside." the man mumbled quietly.

Molly followed him; he was way too scary to disobey.

After coming outside and shutting the door, the man stared at her. "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm Chelsea's best friend. From where we used to live."

"And the other two boys?"

"How did you know about them?" Molly asked. She'd never seen this man in the first week of living with Chelsea.

"Heard." the man mumbled.

"They're Chelsea's step brothers. Although she'll get really infuriated if you refer to them that way. Just think of them as real brothers."

"Why aren't they her real siblings?" the guy muttered.

"She'll kill me for telling, but when she was little, her parents passed away. Some other guy and woman 'adopted' her, and the other two boys."

"Adopted?" the guy seemed really interested into Chelsea's past at this point.

"Not really. As soon as they reached their home, the guy and woman began to torture those three. The guy even did something to Chelsea a few times when he got too drunk."

"What?"

"Stuff that men do to beautiful girls when they can't control themselves." Molly was on the verge of tears. It was too much of a word for her to say or even think about.

The man's eyes were the size of saucers, and Molly actually could see a bit of sadness in them.

"And the lady. She would force the three kids to work. And when they were too slow for the likes of her, she would hit them with various things. I think she knocked out the oldest one with a frying pan once. It was terrible."

"Oh….How do you know them?" the man muttered.

"Well, I'm her oldest brother's age. One day, I saw the three of them walking on the street. I didn't know them then."

The man nodded his head, starting to look a little impatient.

"They were barely clothed, and really pale and thin. I took them to my house after convincing them that I wouldn't tell their parents. After a few days, all three were healthy, much to my relief. We then decided it was best for them to stay with me in interest of safety. I learned about their past, and got the parents arrested. But they…escaped. Chelsea wasn't even sad; she was just very frightened by the thought of being killed in her sleep or something. I decided to then move to Harmonica Town, since the city had become risky. And, after a year of living there, Chelsea felt confident enough to move out. And that's when she moved here."

"Oh." the guy looked really sad to Molly. She reassuringly patted his shoulder.

"All three of them are fine now. Don't sweat about it. By the way, I don't think you told me your name."

"Vaughn. I'm the animal dealer, and I only come on Mondays and Tuesdays. You?"

"I'm Molly. Chelsea's brothers' names are Mark and Kasey. Maybe they can meet you later."

"Molly! The eggs are done!" Kasey's voice called from inside faintly. "And the others are up!"

"Well, I should go before Kasey puts bugs in the breakfast. How about staying here for breakfast with us this morning?" Molly asked, knowing it was the politest thing she could say.

Vaughn surprised her. "Fine…"

Little did she know that she'd regret it later.

**A/N: I know this chapter is seriously able to make you fall asleep, but I couldn't explain Chelsea's past any better. Plus, I almost forgot how Chelsea doesn't consider her mom and dad her parents. Sorry for the serious delay in updates; I'll finish the next Harvest Moon Pranks chapter by weekend; it's almost done. Well, not really. **** Ha-ha, do you know who Molly will end up with? ;) **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I only have ideas for this story so you might get more updates here. MIGHT. Oh, and I'm supposed to be doing English homework right now…ah, well, I'll do it later; it's really hard.**

**Oh, and Molly's regret may not show till the chapter after this. So don't get mad at me.**

**Chelsea's POV~**

The sun was shining brightly the next morning when I woke up. I rubbed the crust off of my eyes, stretched my arms in both directions, and shook Mark's shoulder. He'd been sleeping on the floor, after insisting that I needed to sleep on a proper mattress. He yawned loudly and smacked at my hand wildly before turning away and continuing to sleep.

I sighed and ruffled his beach blond hair, pulling it a little to wake him. You could beat a drum next to Mark and he wouldn't budge from his sleep.

"Mark. Wake up. It's eleven o'clock." It wasn't really eleven o'clock, but fooling the idiot usually got me somewhere.

"What?" He shot up right away and glanced at my alarm clock. 6:02. "Chelsea. I'm going to kill you." And he walked towards the bathroom. I giggled and went to go prepare breakfast.

"Good morning, Chelsea! I made you breakfast!" Kasey was excitedly sitting at the table, squirming endlessly in his seat. Molly just looked at him and grumbled. I really missed something. Then I noticed _him. _Vaughn.

"_We _made you breakfast." Molly growled with irritation.

"Awe, that's so sweet of you guys! You didn't have to! Thanks!" I scanned the table which was covered in tempting delicacies.

"Oh, Mr. Old Guy is here for breakfast!" Kasey just is-

"I think I told you that I'm not old." Vaughn mumbled. He pulled his hat over his eyes, probably trying to avoid my stare._ When did he get his hat back?_ I frantically glanced at Molly and gestured for her to come speak with me outside. We gestured for Kasey to not wait for us and headed outside. I gently shut the door behind me.

"Do you know him?" Molly asked. "Because he seems to know you."

"Well, I guess I should tell you what happened right before you guys came here." I sighed heavily, and closed my eyes, telling Molly everything that had occurred between Vaughn and me, starting at day one. When I was done speaking, I opened my eyes and let out a long breath. Then I glanced up at Molly, waiting for her reaction.

Her eyes were filled with all sorts of emotions, ranging from sympathy to sadness. I honestly couldn't tell what she was feeling or thinking. I waved my hand in front of her to snap her out of some daze she seemed to be in.

"Molly! Snap out of it! Yoo-hoo!"

She immediately came back to Earth. "What- oh. What were we talking about?" I laughed and just patted her back.

"Nevermind. Let's go eat. I could eat all of my animals at this point. Which wouldn't be too good." We walked back into the house, reminding me that Vaughn was still there. The boys hadn't even begun to eat. I was surprised to see them laughing hysterically-including Vaughn!

"HA- hahaha!" Kasey's face was turning red from laughing. Vaughn had a huge grin on his face, making me suddenly wish I had a camera with me. Mark was clutching his stomach and panting. What kind of joke did someone crack to make them look like that?

"Dude, that's hilarious! You should be a comedian!" Mark exclaimed, smiling insanely. That's my brother, never frowning.

"Yup." Vaughn said, and then it was dead silent, which really seemed to disquiet everyone. The silence was so awkward that my hands almost started shaking.

"So…what were you guys laughing like hyenas about just now?" Molly asked, breaking the stillness that seemed to make us squirm.

The boys exchanged glances and Kasey's face broke out into a huge grin. "Are you sure you want to hear this joke? You might die laughing. It's happened before."

"What kind of joke is it?" Molly asked. I knew she was hoping for an inside joke.

"A knock-knock joke." Somehow just having Vaughn answer the question makes me believe him. I wondered what these strange feelings were. Love? No way! I had only known Vaughn for a small time!

"Alright. If Vaughn says so, then it has to be a good one." I immediately realized what I had just said, and felt my face heat up. Suddenly the floor seemed so _absorbing._ Vaughn's face was probably the same.

Molly knew not to embarrass me. "Take it away, Kasey."

"Knock, knock."

Who's there?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"_Knock, knock!_"

"Oh for Pete's sake Kasey, WHAT IS IT?"

"Orange."

"*sigh* Orange, who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say knock, knock?"

"Kasey! Will you ever quit it with the stupid jokes? You've been doing this ever since we were kids!" Molly playfully slapped him on the arm and laughed anyway.

"They're not stupid!" Kasey pouted childishly, his chocolate brown eyes showing comicalness. Everyone chorused in laughter-well, everyone except for Vaughn, who just smirked as usual and kept quiet.

"Well, sit down, ladies. We'll have a feast! Thanks to…" Mark began, and he didn't know who made the wonderful delicacies.

"…Thanks to Molly! Who is a supreme cook!" Kasey cheered and we pretend clinked our coffee/ hot chocolate mugs. I silently thanked the Goddess for giving me such a nice friend that knew how to make me feel comfortable even in the most awkward situations. I then began to eat, telling the story of how Mark walked in his sleep once, earning a growl from my green eyed brother.

"I hate you."

"Love you too." I said sarcastically, and Vaughn cracked a small smile at me.

I couldn't think of a time in my life that I felt better. My heart was no longer droopy from our incident, and my whole face lit up. Everything felt better. Kasey must've noticed because he gave me a baffled look.

"What happened to you all of the sudden?" I laughed and brushed it off, just like a fruit fly "bugging" me in the crop field.

After breakfast, Mark and Kasey offered to clear the table, and Molly began to tour around the ranch to take a look at my animals. Vaughn murmured a small "thank you" for the breakfast and headed out. I followed him after making sure the guys were okay with taking care of the dishes.

Vaughn was just about leaving, but for some reason, my heart ached for him not to go just yet. "Hey."

He turned around, and his eyes had a small bit emotion in them. My heart stopped. "Hey you."

"C-can we g-go talk? S-somewhere else?" I practically whimpered; it was still kinda frightening to talk to Vaughn, even after his smile at me. Which I would never forget.

"…I guess…" Vaughn surprised me by agreeing. He began to take the lead, and I followed him. He was walking so fast that I almost had to run to keep up. I guess height does make a difference in your speed.

We finally arrived at Meadow Island, the only place that was private enough to talk. I found it somewhat too intimate, but that didn't matter. The place was beautiful, nonetheless. The sun was shining brilliantly, clouds white and puffy, showed no sign of precipitation. The air was somewhat warm, a pleasant change for fall. The trees at the far end of the island were full of gorgeously colored leaves, ranging from red to orange to yellow. A small goddess shrine (1) was the grand attraction, having it be the place I went to when I had enough Sunstones to raise an island.

We had actually been just standing at the near end of the island, marveling at the scenery when Vaughn was the first one to snap out of his imagination. "What did you want to talk about?"

I gulped. What if Vaughn got mad all over again? "Well, it's kinda hard to explain…You see.."

"HEY GUYS!" Oh great. Why did Julia have to ruin the moment. It only seemed like a trifle matter at this point, but I didn't know how bad of a situation it would put me in later. Vaughn closed his amethyst eyes and groaned loudly. I could tell he was already beginning to get irritated.

"Tell me later…" he muttered as Julia dragged us by our collars to who-knows-where.

**Julia earlier~**

The blonde haired girl woke up to the merry melody of moos from cows in the back of the shop. She smiled, pushing the covers off of her, knowing this was the day to begin her amazing plan that would pair up two significant people in her life.

Her silver haired cousin, Vaughn, and her brown haired best friend, Chelsea.

Julia bounced in her seat all through breakfast, earning strange glances from Mirabelle. Vaughn was strangely missing, but for once she didn't care. It was better not to get into a fight and a bad mood while her hopes were still high and bright. Julia needed the self-esteem on this day, and she knew that it would show benefits later on. Well, a long time later on…

**A/N: I think we'll stop there. Muahaha…Please review, I'm really proud of this chapter because I finished it in two short computer sittings. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Let's go~ Oh, there's a surprise for you, swingdancer23. ;)**

**Vaughn's POV**

Of course it's the perfect moment that Julia butts in to ruin. And now I was being dragged by my collar to Goddess-knows-where. I hoped wherever we were headed for wasn't too far because this was choking me to death.

"Vaughn, quit squirming! We have to go somewhere!" Julia chirped irritably at me as she continued to drag us along. Poor Chelsea was too choked up and baffled to know what was going on. I tried to get my mind off the neck pain by imagining how Chelsea dealt with that blonde every single day. Tough life…

"I will if you stop choking us!" I barked. Julia smirked and slowed down as she let go of us. Chelsea began panting like a dog; and I just sat down. We'd been thrown into Kirk's boat, and had sailed to Mystic Islands. If Julia was just here to pick flowers for someone, I'd kill her.

Apparently Chelsea hadn't been here very often. She seemed mesmerized by the sight. I couldn't blame her. Mystic Islands was a connection of two small islands, one of them having a periwinkle colored church. A small bell stood in front. And a little further was a small pond; I think it was called the- uh, Goddess Pond? Surrounding the small lake were tons of different flowers, ranging in all different types of colors. Chelsea took the moment to quickly investigate the bell, and grinned as she pulled a small sun shaped stone out. It was colored red, and glittered a little.

"What's that?" Julia asked, gazing at the small stone curiously and with awe. The stone started to shine a little bit more as Chelsea held it up to the sunlight, which was starting to cook me up into a crisp.

"A Sunstone! Now I can raise Mushroom Island!" She began sprinting towards the dock, but Julia grabbed her by the wrist.

"Oh no you don't. Not until we're finished with business here." My wrist was grabbed by cousin's skinny but surprisingly strong hand. The three of us started to head towards the other small island. It had a magenta roofed house. Two weird cherry-wood colored tree looking things stood on each side of the front, curving around the main shape. Some little decorations were here there, one of them being fake diamond things. The only word I could use to describe this place in general was: indescribable. Chelsea was amazed once again, and Julia looked like she had been here thousands of times because she went right away to knock on the door. I stopped her, though.

"Wait! Who's house is this? You haven't told us anything about this whole incident that's wasting time!" I snapped. This was very time consuming. Julia was very lucky that I was given a couple of extra days off due to my lack of rest.

She smirked deviously. "You'll see, Vaughn~." I just growled in response to that, not wanting my head to go on fire or anything. Julia paused for a moment as if she were hesitating then reluctantly knocked on the door. I had to grab Chelsea to stop her from falling because she almost fell down in surprise at who it was.

A woman with long, wavy beach blonde hair had opened the door. Her eyes were a spooky red, and she wore a weird black cape and a tricky smirk. "So you've finally brought them. Hello, Vaughn and Chelsea. It's very nice to meet you. I'm the Witch Princess, but you can call me Witch."

Something about this lady seemed to be fishy. Chelsea appeared to be thinking the same; I could tell by the inquisitive look in her eye full of unanswered questions. _What the flip are we doing?_ I thought, as the Witch sat us in a circle on the floor.

I took this moment to survey the room. One bed was in a corner over to out left. Another similar bed was on the right, the opposite side. In the middle of the room was a GIANT black cauldron with a small wooden stepladder. A bunch of teddy bears were scattered among the room, and a large bookcase lined the wall on the far end of the room. I thought the place looked like a movie set.

"So…JULIA TELL ME WHY WE'RE WASTING TIME HERE BEFORE I BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!" Chelsea fumed and I worried that smoke would start pouring out of her ears. But she was really angry. Her usually calm sapphire eyes were full of fire and flames. I gulped. _I don't dare get on her bad side…_

"Geez, you guys have a bad temper. Anyways, my friend witch here wanted you to try out her new milkshake!"

My eye twitched. So did Chelsea's.

"I'm not falling for that, my dear bratty cousin." I said slowly, my voice crackling.

"Hahaha, you guys are hilarious! Hilarious, I tell you!" Witch laughed her head off. "But let me get you something to drink." Julia and the Witch exchanged glances and evil smirks that I couldn't decipher. Chelsea gulped, and I was ready to hightail it out of that place. But as soon as I stood up, a blindfold covered my eyes and my rear end was placed into what felt like a wooden chair. A rope was tied tightly around me. The same must've been done to Chelsea as I could here a little squeak from her side though I couldn't see anything.

"You will really regret this Julia. Really." Chelsea growled. I could hear a liquid being poured into a glass of some sort. Then the glass was forced into my mouth.

"Drink up, Vaughnie." said Julia wickedly and I felt a really tasty juice go down my throat. Aloe. I never knew it could taste so good. I felt a small smile of pleasure crawl up on my face. Chelsea, on the other hand, didn't seem to be enjoying it.

"Witch…this is disgusting…" she began. I suddenly felt a great feeling of exhaustion over me and before I knew it, I was asleep and unaware of everything around me.

I woke up the next morning to find myself in Mirabelle's guest bedroom. Outside a rumble sounded. "Why does it have to be so gloomy? Oh well, the day will be great, no matter what the weather! Nothing stops me!" I chirped, and bounced excitedly out of bed. Opening the closet, I grumbled a bit. "These clothes are so BORING! They're all black, and look like cowboy outfits!" I slammed the closet door shut.

"I need new clothes…hm; maybe Mirabelle knows where I can get really awesome stuff!" I quickly threw on the cheeriest clothes I could find and skipped into the shop where Julia was reading a magazine and Mirabelle was weaving, waiting for customers.

"Mirabelle, where can I get some new clothes?" I asked, with a huge grin on my face. Julia looked at me real strangely with a hint of worry and fear. Mirabelle was shocked for some weird reason, but it must've been my…

"Oh my Goddess! Why am I wearing this ugly hat? Mirabelle, I need to get better clothes! Please tell me where I can find some!" I begged, getting on my knees for mercy.

"Uh, y-you c-can find th-them at Ch-Chen's shop…" her voice trailed off and I dashed outside, leaving two _**very**_ baffled women wide eyed for no apparent reason.

**Chelsea's POV**

I woke up to the sound of pouring rain and thunder. Good. The sun was just too bright, and it always stung my eyes. I lazily climbed out of bed and glanced at my annoying guests. They were all still sleeping, so I slyly left the room and then my house to go feed the animals in the barn.

Animals. They are my life. Soft and sweet, animals understand me, and they don't talk endlessly, unlike humans. I scoffed, remembering how talkative the other islanders would be, especially with this "gloomy" weather. Then I inwardly growled. I was _not_ going to have Felicia chirp my ear off about how _smart _and _sweet_ her geeky son Elliot can be.

A soft _baa_ sounded from the corner, and my expression softened a bit. My sheep, Lyric, had recently given birth and I still had yet to name the little lamb. I petted her as I calmed down. She seemed to swing her head gracefully from side to side in a gentle motion and then it instantly hit me.

"I guess your name will be Swing." I whispered, and began to pull fodder out of the feed dispenser.

**To the Witch's house! Sorry for the sudden change, its 3rd person.**

The Witch sighed heavily as she glanced at her chiming alarm clock that hadn't shut up for hours. 10:00. There wasn't much sleep left in her, so she got out of bed and began to lazily comb her wavy hair. She was just setting the hairbrush back into the drawer when a knock sounded at the door.

_Whoever is there is asking for death…_She thought grumpily and headed to answer it grudgingly.

"What to you-"she began but was _rudely_ interrupted by a small hand yanking her into the drear rain. "Yikes! I just fixed my hair1 What do want, Julia?"

Julia snarled at the Witch and hissed, "Your…stupid…potion…"

"What about my potion! It's not stupid!"

"What happened to Vaughn's brain, I don't know. But it's your job to fix it."

**A/N: Wow that took me a very short time to do! I feel so proud~ Ouch. my eyes are stinging…MOM! PLEASE DON'T FRY ONIONS! See you guys later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Long time since I've touched this story…I actually attempted another chapter several times, but it didn't work or I was just way too busy. Sigh. I'm going to put a HUGE shoutout at the end of this chapter! **

**Kasey: Will you just hurry up? There are fangirls right there!**

**Mark's POV**

"GAAAAH! DON'T CRAWL ON ME YOU STUPID SPIDER!" Molly's sharp scream echoed throughout the entire house. I grumbled noisily and pulled a pillow over my tired head. Kasey sighed from the other side of the bedroom, and then finally decided to forget everything he'd been taught about being patient, which wasn't very much, anyways…

"Molly…SHUT UP, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?" Kasey bellowed irritatingly. Well someone didn't have a good sleep…

"Waah! I'm sorry! I had a really bad dream where a spider was crawling up my arm!" Molly pouted. She waved her little hands childishly all around her like a four year old._ How she handles farming is beyond my knowledge…_

"Geez, you guys, it's about time we add an extra bedroom to the house. Don't you think so, Chel-"

She wasn't there.

"Did Chelsea leave already?" I asked, and all of the sudden Kasey's and Molly's eyes were wide with surprise.

"She's not here? But I thought she would sleep in today. It's Sunday after all and we could've easily handled the animals…" Molly rambled.

"Maybe Chelsea had trouble sleeping. She might be at work already." Kasey suggested, looking at me. "Molly, before you go, I think you should-"

"CHELSEA! LEMME HELP YA!" Molly had dashed out of the bedroom and out of the house…She was still in her rubber duck pajamas…

"She'll learn a lesson from the embarrassment, I hope." I said, and began to fix the bed.

**Molly's POV**

I walked through the pouring rain as fast as possible. Rain was really nice, but I only enjoyed in the spring, when the air would smell so fresh and clean afterwards. In the fall, rain only seemed to form mud and mold all over the place, as well as attract worms. Ugh.

Rubbing my hands over my arms and shivering, I pushed the door to the barn open and glanced around. Someone seemed to had already taken care of and fed the animals, for the feeding bins were full, and Bessie the cow glared at me like an intruder. I held my hands up in surrender and backed out of the barn.

The chicken coop and stable's feeding bins were all filled up and each animal glared me out of their territory, but there wasn't a single soul in sight. I didn't catch even the quickest glimpse of a red bandanna anywhere, and now I was beginning to worry. I knew Chelsea as the one who would at least leave a note to give us a reason for her absence. Feeling defeated, I slumped and walked back grudgingly to the house, soaking wet despite the effort to cover my head.

"You look terrible." Kasey commented, glancing at the puddle of water that had begun to form when I walked inside.

"Thanks, any girl would love to hear that." I muttered sarcastically and flopped onto a dining chair. Mark gave me a slight look worry.

"What happened? Was Chelsea anywhere?" he asked.

"Chelsea wasn't anywhere. All I know is that she took care of the animals because every single feeding bin was full."

"…" Mark didn't say anything. He glanced outside, then stood up and went outside.

"I want the most hip outfit in stock, please!"

Chen looked at the silver haired young adult with sudden excitement. He smiled widely, keyed up for money. "You want something? Very well then!"

"Yes please! Can you please show me already?" Vaughn said impatiently, bouncing up and down on his toes. He had the look on his face of a young child, and his eyes were filled to the brims with life.

"Of course!" Chen replied cheerfully and pulled out a bright rainbow tribal-styled shirt out. "This is very lively…and this hat? Oh yes, you couldn't find a better match."

"PERFECT! THANKS CHEN AND KEEP THE CHANGE!" Vaughn yelled on his way out after tossing 5000 gold onto the counter when the items had only been priced one thousand together.

_Heh. Vaughn was only VERY SLIGHTLY different in character but I got gold! And lots!_

He went back to bossing Charlie around about organizing shelves neatly when the door opened and a soggy, grudge-holding Chelsea trudged in. Chen grinned again in a creepy way.

"Good morning! How may I help you, Chelsea?" he asked, taking note that she definitely reminded him of somebody else.

"Can I have the plainest clothes possible?" she mumbled in a voice that was barely audible.

"Why not? What color do like?"

"…Black."

"Okay! Do you like this style? Or maybe this one? These are very comfortable and-"

"Just shut up and give me a pair of clothes."

Taken aback, Chen immediately obeyed and handed her the clothes, and then accepted her payment. _It costs 3000 gold altogether…_He mused, counting the money greedily. _She seemed slightly off, also…Almost like Vaughn! Hah!_

"Dad, is there a reason why you keep on talking to yourself?" Charlie asked.

"D-did I say th-that aloud?" Chen asked, thinking he had thought it silently in his mind.

"Yes, dad. You did. And you just asked that question aloud, too."

"Sh-shut u-up and g-get b-back to w-work!"

Charlie snickered quietly but complied and went back to organizing shelves.

...

Meanwhile at the Witch's house, Julia and the Witch Princess were busy frantically searching for the potion that had switched Vaughn and Chelsea's minds. Books that had once been neatly piled up on the wall shelf were now scattered all over the room, creating sky-high piles stacks, and nearly suffocating Julia. She hated reading, but anything for her best friend and cousin.

"Ugh…It's been two hours, Julia! Can't we take a little break? My back is killing me!" Witch complained for the thirty-third time.

Julia snorted. "If we take a break I want to be in apiece where I'm still mobile." she said sarcastically, not wanting to stop until they found success.

"Can I check the book that we didn't take down yet, then?"

"Heck, no! Not until you finish your pile!"

They spent two more hours looking for a book with the right spell until the Witch finally decided to sneakily grab that lonely book off the shelf.

"Julia! I found it! And it was in this book that we didn't touch!" Witch cried triumphantly.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU CHECK IT BEFORE, IDIOT? We could've been done hours ago!" Julia said angrily. She snatched the book from Witch's hand and intently read the page, word by word.

"How do we undo the potion?" asked Julia, handing the book over to Witch.

"Hmm…the majority of spells usually require the opposite ingredients to create an opposite effect. But for potions such as these…"

"What?"

"They have to fall in love. And prove that love by marriage."

**A/N: I thought this would be a good place to end the chapter. By the way, a tremendous thank you to the following peeps:**

**Koi-koi-chan, Tsubaki-San, Penny ToughGirl, Lollipopdiego, swingdancer23, MagicalSquaresOfDarkness, The M.H.T. of R, theatrelove123, Peach the Hedgehog, floopyrocks, Hmszelda, Dorky Tinsle Chik…*gasp…gasp...faint***

**Kevin: I'll take it from here. Also thanks to hmgurl4evr, midnight star237, otakuandproud123, Princess Blaziken, StarCrossedGal, Izzymatic, justcallme-b-e-u-tiful, maple lover, Naruhinalov3, and Yami's Girl 117. Phew…**

**Kasey: Thanks so much for sticking with us this far! Reviewers are Hershey's ultimate motivators, as well as are the adders to favorites and subscribers! Thanks to you, we have twenty-four reviews, seven people who added this to their favorites, and eleven subscribers! **

**Kevin: Thanks again and see you all later! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Julia raised her eyebrows in surprise, yet her mouth turned up into the widest smile ever. "THEY HAVE TO GET MARRIED? OHMYGOSH! This is the best day in my whole life!" It all seemed too good to be true for Julia.

"I said _they can't meet each other for one month,_" the Witch Princess corrected and Julia went crazy, nearly climbing the spell pot to jump in.

"But I could've sworn you said that they have to fall in love and prove it by marrying and-"

"Julia, you were hallucinating. Not everything comes so easily and nicely, you know. Sometimes you can get it like a whiff of the air and sometimes you have to get it as easily as it is to get a blue moon. We can try to get them in love and see what happens, but-"

"WE CAN?"

"Don't interrupt! We can try and see the outcome. I only know so much of outcomes, especially with something as sensitive as this," the Witch continued. She flipped through her thick spell book, in search of an ideal love potion for the situation.

"Meh," Julia bent down to pick up the books from the floor. "Gosh we made a big mess."

…

Chelsea grumbled noisily. Now she was being dragged around, as well as being coated head to toe with wormy mud. The reason? Well, Vaughn wanted to play outside of the Animal Shop today.

"C'mon. I have something to show you, Cha-cha!"

The brunette grumbled even more at her new nickname Vaughn had come up with. "Shut up and put me down, already!"

"Okay!"

Chelsea expected to be put down nicely, with her feet down. Instead her face was met with mud. "What the…"

"ARRGGHH VAUGHN I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mirabelle, who was inside, gasped. What on Earth was the necessity for Chelsea to scream so loud? She peeked through the front window only to see a frightened-out-of-his-wits Vaughn with eyes as wide as frying pans. He trembled with fear and cowered at the sight of Chelsea, who towered over him like a massive giant.

Rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't fantasizing, Mirabelle yanked an umbrella from the wall hook and walked outside to see that she wasn't getting old. In fact, it seemed as if…

Well, she didn't want to think the worst. _Could they have…no! They didn't! There is NO WAY…_

"Chelsea, Vaughn, what is going on here?"

Immediately two pairs of puzzled eyes looked up at the homey-like middle aged woman. Chelsea returned to her Vaughn demeanor and Vaughn turned back to a makeshift Chelsea.

"Nothin' Mirabelle," the rancher sighed, adjusting her now muddy bandanna. "Just…this idiot pulled me into the mud and RUINED MY BOOTS."

"WELL SHE MADE MY NEW SHIRT LOOK UGLY!" Vaughn barked childishly.

Mirabelle glanced from one angry person to the other, nervously. "H-how about some hot chocolate?" she asked as gently as possible, hoping that it wasn't the stupidest decision she'd ever made.

"Sure."

"OH BOY! I want marshmallows, please!"

"Alright! Let's go on in, then."

…

Mark rubbed his aching knuckles. By now, he'd rapped on almost every single door that existed on the islands, asking every single resident (even monster sized Gannon) if they had any knowledge of Chelsea's location. He had one left, and was surprised that he hadn't come here first.

"WELL SHE MADE MY NEW SHIRT LOOK UGLY!" the blond had heard someone say in an almost high pitch tone. He'd ignored the sound, thinking it was just Eliza, and walked into the diner for a small drink before heading north towards the animal shop.

Mark raised his hand to the door, paused for a moment, and glanced down only to see a button. _I swear, if this is on every door, I'll…_

He ditched the thought before pressing at the button, which turned out to be broken for no sound could be heard emanating from inside. With a defeated sigh, Mark gave the wooden door several knocks, earning his seventh splinter. _Why, Harvest Goddess? WHY?_

The door opened and Mirabelle smiled genuinely at the soaking guest. "Hi, Mark! Come on in, we don't want you catching a cold, now, do we?"

Mark smiled gratefully and entered, pulling off his sopping wet blue cap. He looked at it with a grimace. _I used to love that hat…_

"Mark, I'm sure you'd like something to warm you up. How about some hot chocolate or tea?" Mirabelle asked, gesturing for him to join her in the kitchen. "Come sit with Chelsea and Vaughn."

Mark raised his eyebrow and peeked around the corner to see a bored looking Chelsea and a bouncy, cheerful Vaughn. He closed his eyes, hoping that this was all some sort of nightmare.

"I think not, Mirabelle. 'Just had some coffee before coming here. In the meantime, I need to take Chelsea home so the others know she's okay. We've been searching everywhere for her," Mark explained.

"Oh, I see." Mirabelle smiled out of relief as well as out of humor watching Vaughn playfully swirl the marshmallow in his hot chocolate around.

"Let's go, Chelsea." Mark tugged his sister by the sleeve and began to drag her towards the front door.

"Bye, Cha-Cha!" Vaughn called from his chair at the dining table. He waved happily good-bye before Mark closed the door.

Chelsea grumbled and yanked her hand from Mark's grip. "I'm not five anymore."

"We really need to go see Julia."

"Why do we need to see her?" Chelsea grouched. She wasn't in a mood for another person. It was now time to be alone.

"Because you and Vaughn have changed way too much in less than twenty-four hours for the rest of us to catch up! Julia is the last person who was with you guys before your minds went out of whack! Now where is she?"

"She disturbed our moment on Meadow Island and took us to the Mystic Islands. We went to the Witch's house for something. Not sure what, but I think I fell asleep there. I don't remember what happened after that. Stop making me talk. It's annoying," Chelsea mumbled.

Mark closed his green eyes, gulped fretfully, and clutched Chelsea's hand. They began to head towards Kirk's boat.

"Where would you two like to go?"

"Mystic Islands. _Now,_" Mark ordered. He still could feel the slight worry in his voice and sensed that Kirk noticed it too. The boat rower hastily began to move the oars. Before any of them knew it, the trio had reached Mystic Islands.

"Thanks." Mark quickly hopped out of the boat with severe urgency and pulled Chelsea out of the boat.

"God, must you act this way? What the heck is wrong, Mark?" Chelsea moaned, staggering a bit before returning to normal balance and following Mark to the Witch Princess's house.

Mark knew what was coming, so he pretended to be absorbed in searching for something in his pocket. "Knock, on it."

Chelsea tapped the door and was greeted by Julia.

"Oh, h-hi, Chelse'…"

"Who is it, Jules?" a voice called from inside. Mark gave Chelsea a confused look, but the brunette kept her expression completely expressionless.

"Witch Princess," she muttered.

Mark tried to keep a stoic expression like Chelsea, but instead he could only crumple on the inside.

_What has happened?_

**A/N: I thought it was appropriate to end the chapter here. Thanks for reading and please leave a review! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello! I'm planning of setting a goal of writing at least two chapters every month, 1,500 words each. (Not including the A/N's) As we know, it won't last too long. XD But there's no harm in trying, right? **

"Oh, h-hi, Chelse'…"

I knew right then and there that trouble was on its merry way _right now._ There wasn't any rocket science behind it. Great! Now I was stuck in this mess and had absolutely no idea how to shovel my way out.

I wouldn't have panicked in the least…but Mark was there and he looked mighty confused as well as almost frightened of Chelsea, who looked like Vaughn, expression wise.

_Well, DUH! That's the point, you idiot,_ A little voice in my mind practically screeched. I knew that if I had said that aloud, Vaughn would have given the same exact snide remark. Unless if he was in a 'good' mood, a rarity.

"H-how's it going, M-Mark?" my voice and its volume shrunk down to the pitch of Sabrina's voice, probably twice as quiet.

"Uh, I hope you noticed something is wrong with my sister…"

"Right! Umm, about that. It's a **very** long story so why don't you come on inside and sit?" I offered, smiling politely. Who knew how Mark would react to the way Chelsea changed into…well, Vaughn?

The rancher's sibling seemed to hesitate, but with a quick yank on the arm (and a yelp from him) he was inside the Witch's seemingly ominous home.

Chelsea walked in too, with a stoic expression. But something about her was different. I knew already what had happened…but even Vaughn wouldn't get _that_ crabby looking. Chelsea didn't even speak or give a sarcastic comment. She just coldly stared at Mark who stood awkwardly, trying to make the best of the situation mentally.

"Julia! For the millionth time, who is it? I've been waiting for your response, you know!" Witch came storming in, though I knew she'd cool down the minute Mark came into sight. You see, he is a _little_ eye-catching to some girls. Witch being one of them.

She had her fist in the air threateningly, but every sign of anger vanished from her face as soon as she saw Mark. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't going crazy when her eyes appeared as little pink hearts.

"Oh, who is this, Jules?"

"This is Chelsea's brother, Mark!" I said as cheerfully and loud as I could to prevent the atmosphere from becoming any more uncomfortable than it already was. The intenseness was way too palpable for my liking.

I know that I'm not so observant when it comes to people's reactions, but it didn't take Einstein to tell me that the Witch immediately stiffened, afraid of what Mark would think about the switch…

"H-hi, Mark. I'm the Witch P-Princess. You may h-hear nasty things about me from the snooty villagers, but I'm no evil person. Or _witch, _I should say," she explained, fluttering her eyes innocently. I smacked her arm. Not _everyone_ was that bad!

"You know, I really don't care about who you are. I want my normal, happy and cheerful sister back. The one I love," Mark demanded. He clearly had no patience left for us to clarify on what was needed to be done in order to get the old Chelsea back.

"Um, you see Mark, Chelsea sort of got…switched," I murmured.

"_What_ happened to her?" Mark asked in a dangerously low tone. I shivered, noticing that he had an easily flaring temper that was probably no fun to deal with. This wasn't going to be so pretty. I made a quick prayer mentally and just decided to cross my fingers.

But before I could say anything, the Witch butt her head in, saving my life. "We're having a bet. Basically Chelsea has to act completely opposite of her normal self for as long as possible, maybe even a season, without any breaks. If she succeeds, she gets any one thing from me for free. Lose, and she has to buy me a teddy bear from the city."

_If she hadn't been around, I'd be dead at this point…_

"I'm not buying that."

_AARGH! TO HECK WITH IT, JUST TELL HIM THE DANG TRUTH!_

"Vaughn-and-Chelsea's-minds-accidentally-got-switched-and-they-have-to-be-seperated-for-a-month-to-cure-it!" I said all in one breath, my eyes closed shut. Better say my prayers now, expect a punch at any time…

Mark, to my severe disadvantage, had ears of a rabbit.

"WHAT?" he screamed and I knew it wasn't because he hadn't understood what the heck I had just said. He knew, and this was the real end of me.

"Yeah, yeah, get over it, farmer. They're switched and the only way to get them normal again is to just keep them completely away from each other for one month." Come on! The Witch was acting as if this was a minor problem with nothing to worry about!

"That does it. We're done on these islands," Mark grumbled and he was about to grab a silently speculating Chelsea by the elbow when I literally collapsed to my knees in surrender. Tears streamed out from my eyes like a leaky faucet, they wouldn't stop coming similar to when we had got the news about Dad's death.

"Please Mark! Please! I absolutely love Chelsea more than anyone I've ever met in my entire life and yes, this includes my own mother! Please, Mark, give us one more chance! _The Witch and I promise with all of our hearts that we will bring the real, lovable Chelsea back within a season!"_ I cried, pressing my hands together tightly as if in prayer and keeping my face towards Mark's feet. The tears dripped endlessly, forming a cute little puddle and getting the blond rancher's boots wet with salty tears.

Mark sighed in defeat. "One season is all you got. If Chelsea isn't back to normal by- Witch what is today's date?"

"Fall seventh."

"If Chelsea isn't back in her normal, cheerful form by winter eighth I will gather all of our things and take Kasey, Molly, and Chelsea away from here _forever,_ and leave everyone to fend for themselves without a rancher. DO YOU GET MY WORDS?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Now Chelsea, let's…Wait where is she?" Mark asked, glancing around the room worriedly. "Chelsea!"

"I don't know," Witch muttered, gazing out the window. She smiled slightly for a moment.

"Why am I suddenly feeling a little uneasy after you smiled?" I asked, hoping that this was just some sort of joke from the Witch.

"I think she went to the church. Why not go see her, Julia?"

"Actually, I don't want her seeing you…" Mark began but his voice trailed off when I pouted childishly. "Oh, alright."

I then without a second thought dashed my way out of there, heading for the church.

_One month. That's all you have to do. Keep them away from each other for one month. And that should be a piece of cake! Vaughn is rarely here anyways._

As if on cue, Kirk's boat pulled right to the dock, letting the silver-haired cowboy with an abnormally huge smile on his face hop off and sprint towards me.

"Hey Julia! My boss said I could stay have a month's worth of vacation! He says I'm acting weird and need a break!"

_Spoke too soon…_

**A/N: Almost 1,200 words, not including the author's notes! Not bad, but I can do better. I'm hoping to get this story at least seventy five percent or completely done by July so I can start a new longfic. Please review and tell me what you think about Mark's reaction! **

**-Hershey-**

**P.S. HOLY COW THIS IS THE TENTH CHAPTER! :O Thanks to EVERYONE I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Happy Fanfictioning and please continue with your awesome support that keeps me wanting to write! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

I sighed and flopped lazily on the bed. It was hard, pretending to be an overprotective older brother and yell at the Witch and Julia like I had done earlier. It had hurt me to be so mean like that; in fact, it wasn't even their fault. It wasn't mine, either, or Vaughn's, or anyone else.

It was nobody's fault. I'd learned the habit of blaming things on no one from…who? It was such a weak yet revived memory.

"Mark? Are you there?"

I quickly sat up to see Molly walking into the room. She had a look on her face, a look of sympathy.

"Did you need something?" I asked. Kasey walked into the room and sat on the bed beside me.

"Mark…You'll hate us but we have to leave," Molly confessed, her head hanging down as if she were ashamed. I almost gasped like a girl who had been just proposed to.

"W-Why? Don't you like it here?"

"Of course! We love this place. The air is clean, the people are nice, and it's just like home!" Kasey exclaimed, a cheerless smile on his face. "But yesterday Molly got a call…Hamilton wants us back to the island…"

"Why?"

"Dang it how would I know with that guy?" Kasey shouted, throwing his arms up in the air. He sighed warily. "Sorry man, it's just that…that we really, really don't want to leave you in the middle of the mess you're in. This is the time when you need our greatest support."

"I think it was something about the farm," Molly half whispered, half spoke. "Something happened to the farmers that were getting old or something…" (1)

"They died?" Kasey asked.

"No…Hamilton spoke so fast, I could barely tell a word he was saying. I caught on to the word vacation," Molly explained. Kasey groaned loudly and facepalmed.

"…Oh. When are you guys going?" I asked. Maybe it wouldn't be for several weeks and I still had time to spend with them.

"Tomorrow."

"So y'all are leaving?" Chelsea grunted. She leaned back in her seat at the Church and stared coldly at the ceiling as if there was something, anything to look at. Her chestnut brown hair was currently tied up into a ponytail in a sloppy manner. Even her red bandanna was askew, wrinkly and in dire need of a good washing.

"Yeah."

"…Why?"

"Someone needs to take care of the farm. Apparently we're the only ones without a steady job, so we have to take on the task," Molly informed. "We really are reluctant to go, but this is urgent."

"Well, I'll miss y'all. Be sure to marry Kasey."

"W-What?" Molly felt the heat rise to her face, and it was unmistakable that she was tremendously embarrassed.

Chelsea chuckled rather mysteriously but she smirked. "C'mon. I know love when I see it."

"Hehe. Chelsea, I'm going back to the farm house to finish up packing Kasey's bag for him. I'll see you later." replied Molly, in hope of escaping the awkwardness.

"Alright."

"Remember to keep connections with us," Molly reminded Mark and Chelsea. "Maybe we'll visit sometime or the other."

I grinned and promised to keep in touch. Meanwhile Chelsea smirked at Kasey. He smirked back at her. "Got some comment bottled up, sis?"

"Yeah."

"What is it this time?"

"I wouldn't be surprised to see you two married by next season."

"WHAT?"

I bent over in a mad fit of laughter while Kasey and Molly exchanged glances of embarrassment, both of their faces nearly on fire. Chelsea just continued her now creepy smirk that was getting on my nerves.

It was the first time in a while I'd felt like that. Well it was a long time for me, anyways. I always liked to express my amusement.

"Shut up Mark," Kasey said, pulling me into a headlock. He grinned nonetheless. "Good luck with Chelsea, by the way."

"Alright, guys," Molly said quietly. "This is it…" She pulled Chelsea into a hug who somewhat resisted. I could hear the auburn eyed girl begin to weep as she squeezed poor Chelsea even tighter. It was my turn for a death embrace, so she let go of Chelsea and ran over to me.

"Heh," I chuckled lightly, ruffling her hair. "Well, either way you guys _do_ kinda seem fit for each other."

Molly just grinned and let go of me while Kasey and Chelsea hugged. We gave our final good-bye before Kasey collected the luggage as well as a sobbing (or rather screaming) Molly and boarded the ship.

The pair stood at the railing. Kasey smiled, waving, and when Molly didn't gesture because she was so sad, he lifted her arm and moved in a waving motion. I laughed and waved back. We'd see our brother and very best friend soon; I just knew it from my heart.

**(Julia)**

I didn't get a chance to speak with Chelsea after she went to the church. Vaughn had dragged me back home, claiming it was time to play. I reluctantly went along with it, and played hide-and-seek, sardines in a can (we kinda had to borrow some friends), and even tag.

After three hours of games, Vaughn pulled me towards Ranch Island. _This isn't gonna work,_ I thought and yanked my cousin's arm the other way.

"Let's go see if Denny's home!" I said. It was the best idea I could come up with off the top of my head. "We can go fishing with him."

"Alright! Let's go!" Vaughn shouted and immediately he began sprinted in the opposite direction towards Sprout Island's beach, where Denny sat lethargically, a fishing rod in his hand. Lanna stood nearby. Upon seeing us, she smiled and waved.

"Hi, guys! Out for some fishing?" she asked. "Wait, why is Vaughn smiling?"

"…It's a long story," I whispered, watching Vaughn run over to Denny to greet him. "Just- just don't ask. And no! I don't fish."

"Oh, okay," Lanna murmured back. A new thought came to my mind. _Maybe…_

"Lanna, I need to ask you a favor."

"Hmm?"

"Could you…I don't know, try to keep Chelsea away from Vaughn? Just until winter eighth," I requested.

Lanna smirked. "You don't want them together?" she asked.

"No, it's not that," I answered. "If we want Chelsea and Vaughn back to their original states, we're going to need to keep them away from each other for that long. According to the Witch Princess, at least. She's the reason why I'm in this mess!"

"But why should that even be a problem? Vaughn is only here on-"

"His boss thinks he's acting peculiarly and needs a break."

"Oh…"

"So could you help? Please?" I begged. "You're one of my only hopes."

"Of course."

"Thanks, Lanna!" I said and hugged her firmly. Where would I have been in this situation without friends like Lanna?

"It's nothing. Now would you like to fish with us?" Lanna asked.

"Heck, no! Eww…"

Lanna laughed. "Alright but at least stay with us."

I nodded my head and sat down in the sand next to Denny and Vaughn as well as Lanna.

"Yo', Julia," greeted Denny. He grinned before returning his gaze out to the vast ocean. Vaughn smiled and lay down in the sand, his hands behind his head, and his eyes closed peacefully. I lay down next to him and soon enough four of us were relaxed on the sandy beach, fast asleep.

**A/N: I had fun writing this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Vaughn opened his eyes sleepily, wiping the dry crust from the edges sloppily. He glanced around, wondering why he was lying down. _And on the beach sand._

The last thing he remembered was happily chatting with the jovial fisherman, Denny. It had been a clear and sunny afternoon at that time. Now the stars were twinkling in the inky night sky, like golden glitter scattered on a jet black sheet of construction paper.

He looked around, also recalling the presence of several other beings, and started violently when there wasn't a soul in sight. Even Denny's shack didn't have any lights emanating from the windows.

He stood up energetically. "Hello? Julia? Denny?"

"It's about time you woke up."

Vaughn was about to turn his head sideways to see the owner of the gruff voice when he felt a tight grip around his head and his sight was blackened completely – no stars, nothing.

"What's going on?" he wailed dramatically, waving his arms up and down uselessly.

"Get home right now! Your apple pie* is getting cold!" whispered someone quite harshly. It sounded like a girl he knew. _Julia._

"APPLE PIE? WHERE?"

"This way!" Now Julia sounded more cheerful (or maybe she sounded more triumphant) and Vaughn relaxed as he let the blonde drag him all the way past Regis' massive mansion, the local, but vacant, inn, and several residences before lastly arriving at home. He could hear the door opening, and felt hardwood underneath his brown leather boots. At last, Vaughn felt the grip of the blindfold loosening, and he could see his surroundings again. The sweet fragrance of a warm delicacy lingered in the air mischievously.

Mirabelle walked into the shop area, holding the aroma's culprit with plaid green oven mitts. It steamed appetizingly, warming the air nearby.

"Vaughn! Julia where has he been? Oh, we've been so concerned about you!" cried the pudgy woman. She without delay set the pie down and pulled Vaughn into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Mirabelle!" Vaughn wailed, tears pouring out of his eyes as he hugged back even more firmly. "I was at the beach and then I fell asleep and I just woke up! Please pardon me! PLEASE!"

Mirabelle smiled with an insignificant sniffle and wiped off Vaughn's tears with her thumb. "Okay," she whispered. "It's okay. Just don't ever do that again. Now, would you do for some apple pie?"

"Yes, please!" Vaughn grinned, releasing himself and hopping onto a stool by the counter. He fidgeted enthusiastically as Mirabelle sliced three large helpings of pie for Vaughn, Julia, and herself.

_I just hope that whatever's going on will end soon, _Mirabelle thought.

XXX…XXX

"Chelsea what should I make for dinner?" Mark called to his sister, who lay on the couch languidly. She wasn't necessarily indolent, though, but rather exhausted and drained from the tiring and eventful work day.

"Anything, really."

"So I can make carrot soup?"

"No."

"But you said anything," Mark retorted, narrowing his emerald green eyes.

"Fine. Just make natto," Chelsea grumped. She closed her eyes in grogginess and let out a little grunt of surprise when a knock sounded at the door.

"I wonder who that could be." Mark set the cookbook he had been flipping through down onto the kitchen counter and hurried to open the door.

He certainly wasn't anticipating a hyper man with silver hair and a black Stetson. Definitely not his guest of choice, but really, who can have power over events these days?

"Hi Mark!" Vaughn chirped in such a high voice that Mark flinched. "Have you seen Chelsea?"

_Wait a minute…I thought she can't see Vaughn…_Mark thought, recalling the events of the previous day at Witch Princess's house. _Shoot! What am I supposed to say now?_

He smiled stupidly and shifted his weight on one foot. "I'll check, wait here," he said and closed the door.

Mark then zoomed into the living room and yanked an almost completely asleep Chelsea by the elbow vehemently. "Chelsea! You need to get out of here through the bedroom window and _FAST!"_

The girl just stared at him with boredom written across her forehead but yet appearing interested. "Why?"

"No time to explain!" Mark cried, shoving a baffled Chelsea into the bedroom. "Now _GO_ and hide in the barn or something! Just don't let Vaughn see you!"

He slammed the door and returned back to Vaughn who had been waiting patiently outside, still smiling. _How did he not hear me screaming?_

"Uhm, sorry, Vaughn," Mark began. "It seems like Chelsea isn't home right now."

"Oh." Vaughn slumped his shoulders. "Thanks for checking, anyways, Mark. See you tomorrow!"

Mark noiselessly sighed in relief to himself and shut the door.

XXX…XXX

_I don't think Chelsea went anywhere,_ thought Vaughn as he paced back and forth in front of the farmhouse. He glanced around the ranch. There wasn't any livestock in sight and all of the crops appeared to have been watered for the day.

"Maybe she's in the barn…" he murmured softly to himself and peered in the side window of the house. Mark's attention was occupied, stirring something in a pot.

He crept along the side of the house, ducking under each window circumspectly. Then upon being at a safe distance away so that anyone inside could not see him, Vaughn speeded up and dashed towards the barn.

He burst through the flap-like doors but only could see cows and sheep. There was a small bit of red above one of the sheep. _It's…It's just my imagination playing tricks on me. Yeah, that's it. I should go to bed now. Maybe I'm just super sleepy._

Dejectedly, Vaughn trudged out of the barn, dragging his boot behind him, which practically tore up soil. He gazed up at the nighttime sky, taking into account how many stars were scattered so perfectly, almost as each arrangement had been planned with careful deliberation.

_I…I miss Chelsea. Even if we barely know each other_. _She understood me._

He felt a tear roll down the side of his face, and watched it plummet to the grassy green ground as it soaked into the soil. Another drop of salty water followed, and then another. Soon a small dark spot had been made in the soil, marking the location where Vaughn had cried for two hours in the dark. However, he didn't know that someone had been watching him for the entire time, wishing to be able to approach and comfort him.

XXX…XXX

A light glittered through the front window as Vaughn found himself awakening to another day. He wondered when he had arrived back at Mirabelle's that night; it had been almost eight when he cried at Ranch Island.

"Hey Vaughn! Your breakfast is ready! Eat up while it's hot!" Mirabelle called. She walked into the shop area, and helped Vaughn out of his nest of blankets on the floor.

"It's Saturday so Julia and I will be at Meadow Island. Let me know if you need anything," she announced, pouring Vaughn a tall glass of cold and creamy cow's milk.

Vaughn silently began to cut his pancake into bite size pieces. He formed them into the shape of a small bandanna, and even managed to create a small smiley face with the scrambled eggs and bacon.

He had absolutely no idea that yet again; he was being watched again by the same person who had ever so emotionally wanted to come near and reassure him once more.

_I'm right here, Vaughn._

**A/N: Ha! I did it! Take that writers' block! xD That's my lame excuse for not working on my stories lately, along with studying for exams. It's amazing that I even managed to write this, but that's what I do when I'm writer's blocked. I force myself! Ahaha, thank you for reading my dear readers. **

***- Well if they switch minds, don't you think tastes go along with it? **


	13. Chapter 13

Mark watered the last bit of water dribble out from his green plastic watering can onto the sweet potato seeds in front of him. He attempted to wipe off some mud off of his sweaty face but it only resulted in getting even more dirt under his eye.

Well so much for trying.

He sighed in exhaustion. It had been a long morning of watering, harvesting, planting, and more watering. There had been so much work that he'd woken up at four o'clock instead of six.

"Is that your new style? Because I strongly disapprove," Chelsea remarked, glancing up and down at her brother's person, which was generously coated in mud. _Like a slug,_ she thought with distaste.

Mark ignored the Vaughn-like behavior of Chelsea and changed the topic. "Hey, I've had this thought on my mind lately."

"What is it?"

"Why haven't you gotten a puppy yet?"

Chelsea paused in the midst of pulling out a stubborn weed and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Mark had asked a pretty good question; why didn't she have a puppy?

"I wonder why. Change out of your mud uniform and we'll head to Mirabelle's."

The two siblings, who were now showered and fresh, headed to Mirabelle's shop. Upon arriving, Mark opened the door and let Chelsea in before shutting it behind him.

Neither Chelsea nor Mark expected to be greeted by the obnoxious blares of disco music.

That was one thing.

What they _really_ didn't expect was to see a certain person named Vaughn doing the disco dance along with it. Not to mention that he was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt with smiley faces on it.

_Holy cow,_ the siblings thought simultaneously.

Circumspectly, they tip-toed over to the shop counter, where Julia and Mirabelle were hiding. Had it not been for a small portion of Julia's head sticking out would they have known where to go in such an awkward and sudden situation.

"What are you doing down here?" Mark whispered as loudly as possible. Somehow he felt like it was better to go unnoticed by Vaughn.

"Dude! That isn't normal!" Julia snapped, gesticulating towards the dancing cowboy.

"Julia…I think you were justified in declaring Vaughn's insanity…" Mirabelle muttered incoherently under her breath, glancing up at Vaughn.

Suddenly the music stopped, and the room fell dead silent. Chelsea's eyes, until now, had been narrowed. Now they were wide open as Vaughn leaned over the counter and stared at all four people hiding with a wide clown-like grin on his face.

"CHELSEA! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! I WAS CRYING ALL NIGHT!" he yelled in the loudest voice possible.

Cautiously, Mirabelle, Mark, Chelsea, and Julia crawled out of their not-so-secret-anymore lair and stood up.

Vaughn then squeezed Chelsea into a tight embrace at which Chelsea smirked. She even felt a snicker wanting to escape at the expressions of everyone else, which to her, represented utter hilarity.

Mark cleared his throat. "Ah, the reason we came here actually was to get a puppy."

"Oh really? Chelsea, I didn't know you hadn't gotten a puppy yet. I could've sworn…" Mirabelle's voice trailed off as she pulled out a manila folder filled to the brim with sales history and began to shuffle through the plethora of papers.

"Vaughn, why don't you take Chelsea to the barn and show her the puppies?" Julia suggested. Out of habit, she twirled a strand of blonde hair around her skinny finger.

"Okay!" Vaughn answered cheerfully. He grabbed Chelsea's wrist and tugged the somewhat unwilling rancher to the barn.

Chelsea gazed wistfully at the long line of stalls, each full of animals that mooed, baahed, clucked, quaked, meowed, snorted, neighed, hee-hawed, and finally, barked.

"See? Aren't they adorable?" Vaughn chirped, glancing at Chelsea. A ghost of a smile remained on her face as the pair sat down.

"They are something," Chelsea replied quietly. She scratched one brown puppy affectionately behind its ears.

"Hey you're actually smiling!"

Chelsea put her fingers up to her lips and felt her eyes widen at the texture of an upward arc. _Holy…_

Vaughn then looked away. His cheeks were tinted pink and his mouth curved in the way Denny's did when he complimented Lanna. "You look pretty when you smile, Chelsea…"

If there was a world record for the reddest face, then Chelsea had set it. There was no mistake in saying that her cheeks resembled ripen beets.

"Gah! They're attacking me!" Vaughn shouted between fits of unnoticed laughter.

She directed her focus towards the cowboy, who was being tackled by a group of- no, a _horde_ of puppies. More and more of the tiny creatures joined the "attack".

_They sure do have lots of energy, _Chelsea noted mentally, as she watched the puppies send Vaughn to lying on his back. They crawled over his rapidly rising and falling stomach, sat on top of his knees, and some even joined forces and plundered his hat. They then invaded his shaggy silver hair, making it appear to have been overrun by a typhoon.

"Ch-Chelsea! He-help m-meeee! It-it ti-tickles!" Vaughn managed to cry out in the midst of his rambunctious guffaws.

"Hmm," Chelsea muttered. I _would_ help you, but on second thought, this situation is better. Watching you get tackled by an army of puppies while wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and not hat is pretty amusing…" With a loud and fake yawn to cover it up, she added, "And cute…"

Despite her statement Chelsea smirked and began to help Vaughn free himself from the raid. When they had finally succeeded, Vaughn cheered.

"Let's decide on a puppy!"

"C'mon, I know you want cookies!"

Mark groaned and let Julia drag him into Mirabelle's kitchen where a plate of steaming cookies had been laid on the table. Almost immediately after taking a seat Julia fervently snatched one of the delicious treats and munched on it, allowing a shower of crumbs to fall to the floor. "So how's it going?"

"Meh, pretty good. Muddy as well, with all of the rain we've had lately." He picked under his nails in an attempt to scratch out some remaining dried up mud.

"Yeah," Julia chimed. "Already clouds are beginning to clog up the sky. I can't believe that this place is called 'Sunshine Islands'…"

Mark glanced towards the window. Julia was right. The light that had brightened Verdure Island earlier in the morning was in the process of fading away as more storm clouds threateningly settled in.

_Well so much for watering…_

Julia bit her lip and shifted her feet slightly, staring apprehensively at the floor. Guilt seemed to invade her normally cheerful mood faster than she had grabbed the cookie earlier.

"Is something the matter?" Mark asked tensely. He put his fingerless-gloved hand on top of Julia's bare and pale smooth one.

She stared at their hands nervously. "No…"

"I'm not buying that. C'mon, tell me." Mark's emerald green eyes shone with concern, and even a little bit of fear, perhaps.

"No!"

"Aw, just tell me already!"

Julia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Without opening them she blurted, "Are you still mad at me?"

He widened his eyes, but managed to overall remain collected.

"Well, by the way I'm acting and speaking towards you, does it sound like I'm angry?"

Julia reopened her eyes, her eyebrows raised. "Are you teasing me?"

"No, Julia. I'm not teasing you."

"You're not?"

"Nope."

Julia felt herself relax again and decided not to dwell on it. He wasn't mad and that was what mattered at the moment. "Holy smokes!"

"What is it this time?"

"_We weren't supposed to let Chelsea and Vaughn see each other!"_

Mark felt his body stiffen. He had absolutely no idea what to think except for one thing.

_I think I'm mad at her again._

**A/N: I worked very hard to get this chapter done just right, yet it still seems rushed to me. :/ So…can you imagine Vaughn doing the disco? How about a rainbow tie-dye T-shirt? xD Ha-ha. I wanted to have him wear a yellow cap, too, but it was too hard for me to imagine, and I felt bad for doing so. :( Plus the original hat seems funnier. **

**Oh yeah, I'd really like to have a cover for this story. So those artists out there, (or anyone, really! There's more than just drawing you could do!) I was wondering if you could create a cover. You can use your own ideas, or use a scene from the story. I'll create a poll, and everyone can vote for the best as winner. Let me know what you think about prizes, as I want to, but am afraid because what if it comes out way to late? **

**You can upload your image to wherever, as long as I can save it to my computer. Also, please no kissing images, as I don't really prefer them since the story isn't completely romance anyway. ;) **

**If you read through this insanely huge A/N without skimming or skipping, then I think you're awesome!**

**And one more thing, if you haven't done so already, please vote on the poll I posted on my profile! Thanks! **

**~Hershey (If I said all that aloud my voice would be gone by now)**


End file.
